


Tomcat Alley

by The_Exile



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Alcohol, Cats, Dimension Travel, Flirting, Illnesses, Implied/Referenced Sex, M/M, Seduction, Spoilers, Suits, Swearing, automated home conveniences, bitching about work, cheesy bachelor's love nest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 09:22:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15482658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Exile/pseuds/The_Exile
Summary: Rideaux invites Julius back to his totally above board, authorised and not going to cause a paradox of some kind, honest guv, personal customised fractured dimension, complete with chaise lounge and mini bar. He doesn't expect Julius to bring a large, fat, bad-tempered cat. They enjoy themselves anyway.





	Tomcat Alley

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pirotess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirotess/gifts).



"You know, when I said this place could have anything you want in it, I was expecting something a little more... creative," he said, eyes turned pointedly down towards the rotund fluffy bundle dangling in the other man's arms arms, "Ambitious. Possibly, if I wished hard enough, actually sexy?"

 

Suddenly tired of being carried by his shoulders so that his paws dangled limply down, the cat wriggled free of his grasp, leaping down with a curious little chirrup, then bouncing along the mahogany tiled floor with surprising speed for an overweight large tom, his claws skittering in a way that made Rideaux wince. Ignoring the glares of the lavishly decorated room's host, the cat sniffed the dark red velvet chaise lounge, then forced his way under it until only the grey tip of his thick, stubby tail still waggled in view. 

"Hey, if you ask me what's the first thing I imagine, this is what comes to mind these days. I guess this is my life," he shrugged, "Surrounded by fat cats. That's corporate life for you."

"Don't tell dad jokes at me, Julius. You trying to make my pad more homely? You're the last person I'd expect all this domestic crap from. I started dating you because you weren't like all the other salarymen," he cackled at his own joke until a racking cough cut him short. His wicked grin didn't go away even as he doubled over and steadied himself on the arm of the sofa, a gesture he effortlessly turned into a languorous flourish, his delicate, sharp-nailed hand caressing the velvet - until the cat's round face emerged, teeth dragging out from the underside of the sofa something that Rideaux clearly didn't want revealed yet, as the man nearly booted Rollo in the face trying to shove him back underneath. He succeeded only in giving the cat incentive to enthusiastically savage his long red suede boots with black laces and slightly raised heels. Julius was impressed at the dignity the other man could keep on his face while a cat tried to pull his bootlaces out and tear them to pieces. Then again, he was used to hiding so many other inconveniences that could lose him work in such a fast-paced environment, such as the constant pain tearing him apart at an elemental level. 

"You're one to talk, Rideaux, what with the perfect stereotype of a sleazy bachelor's love nest you've set up here," Julius retorted, relaxing onto the sofa next to him with his arms stretched out on the back rest. He grunted as Rollo immediately jumped onto his lap, batting away Rideaux's sneakily placed hand with a large clawed paw. 

"I beg your pardon? HIGH CLASS sleazy bachelor's love nest," Rideaux cackled as he activated a button on a small black device on one cuff of his suit jacket. They'd both worn immaculately tailored pinstripe suits, although Julius had worn a functional but obviously expensive white overcoat while Rideaux's suit included a red and black dinner jacket and matching black waistcoat, with a ruff of black feathery fur and black silk opera gloves, one of which he'd slowly and sensuously removed during the time he'd sensed Julius looking at him. When Julius saw the device, he managed to suppress his instinct, honed in far too many battles and not enough trust for the man he was closest to in this unforgiving world apart from his own brother, to duck down, dart forwards and disarm the man. Sensing his mild discomfort, Rideaux only laughed louder when the device did nothing but bring the spyrite-controlled radio to life, filling the room with soft jazz music. He slightly flicked another dial and the lighting dimmed slightly more. Hovering his hand over the final button, he said, "Would you like a drink? Chilled wine? Spirits?"

"What, can that thing fetch the drinks? What is it, a robot maid?"

 

"Pardon? No, that small black thing is a mini-bar, I was going to fetch them for us. I've even got an antique silver tray. I brought it in from the outside, I didn't edit it into the divergency pattern!"

"You know, there's a reason the company prohibits frivolous personal use of the divergences. Any lesser employee would get fired on the spot."

"Oh, come on, this place is as private from them as anywhere in the Universe can be at this point. You know the asshole in charge - he'll do something worse than fire us. And anyone lower than that, of course, is lucky if they know these things fucking up our world even exist," another spasm of coughs wracked his chest until even Rollo looked concerned, shoving a wide-eyed fluffy face in his and even letting Julius take the opportunity to reach over and comfort the smaller man with a strong arm wrapped around his shoulder, "Look, these things are the source of what's screwing my body up. I feel it's my privilege, no, my duty, to dick with them in return. And besides, nobody knows this place is inhabited, I may have doctored the reports somewhat to get this divergence classified as 'Class Twelve Unstable - Completely Uninhabitable - Quarantined'."

"So it's going to be blanket-deleted at some point. Nice one, genius."

"Not above Class Ten, you can't risk the momentary decay of the deletion process unravelling everything at once and causing a huge BOOM!" he mimed this explosion with a flourish of his arms, falling backwards and shoving Rollo off his lap, "Quit licking me, asshole. Only Julius may do that."

"Is that a royal command, oh tyrant of an official piece of shit?"

"Oh, I've not conquered the Universe yet, give us time," he cackled, "This - my private world that I am letting you inside because you mean the most to me out of everything - is the only place that is designed not to be absolute shit, do you understand?"

"And yet you complain when I have things in it I like, and that liven the place up and give it a little respectability."

"Look at that pig, he's about as respectable as... as a pig!", apparently this struck him as hilarious too, "I bet he has all the lady cats around the yard after dark."

"Yeah, but he kinda cheers me up just by being there, even after the crappiest day, and the way you go on even when you haven't had a drink yet, you could do with a cat sitting on you who's too heavy to move if he's pinned your chest down. Their purrs are good for you, you know."

Rideaux pressed the button for the mini bar and motioned at Julius, "Fetch a fresh red wine, one of the nicer vintages."

Julius shrugged and did as he was bid, twisting reality slightly so that Rollo had a saucer of milk and a bowl of food waiting for him underneath the mini bar. Contented with the bribe, the cat flopped down, head rested on forepaws, and began snoring. 

"So, there's a few more functions hidden here and there," admitted Rideaux, turning his right wrist to reveal another, similar device, "Including, I admit, a call for some custom security drones in case someone does get in here uninvited, and an emergency warp out just on the off chance some pedant does clear out the old unused divergences. But that's not interesting. After we've finished this bottle, I'm gonna show you how this thing turns into a bed with some interesting extras."


End file.
